A lesson plan for Grade 2 developed by the Michigan Farm Bureau. 

Objectives:

• Teach students to generate reasonable questions about the world based on observation.
• Encourage students to develop solutions to unfamiliar problems through reasoning, observation and/or experiment.
• Learn to construct charts and graphs and prepare summaries of observations.

Michigan Content Standards: (Science): I.1.1 ; I.1.2 ; I.1.6 ; II.2

Introduction:
Insects can be found nearly everywhere. Some insects are helpful to people. Other insects are harmful and cause damage to trees and crops. Farmers and gardeners need to know which insects are friends and which are not. Insects can carry diseases, damage crops, make fruits and vegetables look bad and can even destroy entire crops, which limits the amount of food available for people and animals to eat. Integrated pest management (IPM) is a pest management system that focuses on managing pests with the least possible impact on people, property, and the environment. Farmers use tools like crop rotation, sprays or good bugs to help their crops. Using traps, scouting and identifying insects, and controlling bugs are all important tools for farmers to use. Farmers/Growers use:

1. Chemical crop sprays or powders - farmers use as little as needed, to protect the environment and to protect the water and food supplies. Pesticide applications are a useful tool, when applied according to label instructions by registered and certified pesticide applicators.
2. Crop Rotation - farmers do not grow the same crop every year, but instead rotate which crops they plant in each field. For instance, one year a farmer may grow a field of corn. The next year, the farmer may grow alfalfa hay in that field. Farmers do this because certain bugs like certain crops. By growing different crops year after year, bugs will leave. Crop rotation is a common practice on sloping soils because of its potential for saving soil. Rotation also reduces fertilizer needs, because alfalfa and other legumes replace some of the nitrogen corn and other grain crops remove. With crop rotation, pesticide costs may be reduced by naturally breaking the cycles of weeds, insects and diseases. As added benefits, grass and legumes in a rotation protect water quality by preventing excess nutrients or chemicals from entering water supplies; meadow or small grains cut soil erosion dramatically; and crop rotations add diversity to a farming operation. 
3. Good Insects - farmers also use "good" or beneficial insects to protect their crops and get rid of harmful insects. Some insects can do a lot of damage to crops and orchards. An insect’s worst enemies are other insects. Of the millions of insects that eat animals instead of plants, most feed on other insects. Using insects to control insects is called a “biocontrol” method. Biological control is the use of naturally occurring organisms that act as natural enemies to the pests in question. These approaches to pest management may be used to reduce pesticide use. The introduction and encouragement of natural predators is a highly effective method of controlling many bugs. Some quick biocontrol definitions: Pest – an unwanted insect or weed; Pathogen – bacterium or fungus that causes disease in a pest; Parasite – an insect that feeds in a living pest; and Predator – an insect that eats pests. When used effectively, biocontrol methods can be a safe and effective approach to pest management. 
4. Scouting/Trapping - farmers must watch their fields or orchards closely. Farmers look on the leaves of the trees or plants for bugs. This is called scouting. To help find the insects, farmers use traps. When pests are found that could damage the crop, the farmer must choose the best way to get rid of the pest. Traps are hung in fruit trees, in greenhouses and on posts in fields for other crops. A scent, called a pheromone, is used inside the trap. This attracts the bugs to the trap. The trap is sticky inside, so when the bugs fly into the trap to smell the pheromone they get stuck. Killing adult bugs stop the cycle of egg laying or larval development and reduce pest populations. Sometimes farmers need help identifying the insects they find. They use a key, or guide. A key uses color, the number of legs or other things to determine what bug they have found.

In addition to the pest management tools listed above, keeping things clean goes a long way toward reducing pest problems, especially indoor pests like cockroaches, ants and houseflies. Cleanliness is also important on farms for pest control, especially around feed piles and manure-prone areas.

The most important thing you can do to control bugs is to learn as much as you can about the life cycles and preventative treatments for bugs that are bugging you. Some resources include your local public library, your local Michigan State University Extension office, on-line insect databases, and entomology clubs.

Materials Needed:

• Copies of 8” x 10” pictures of “good” and “bad” bugs (click to download and then use your browser's print function to make copies).
  1. ladybug
  2. praying mantis
  3. honeybee
  4. grasshopper
  5. tomato horn worm
  6. gypsy moth caterpillar
     
     
• Insect Trap Making Kit handout.
• Insect Lab Sheet handout.
• Bug Card Sheet handouts, photocopied and cut out
  1. ladybug
  2. praying mantis
  3. honeybee
  4. grasshopper
  5. tomato horn worm
  6. gypsy moth caterpillar
     
     
• Insect Key handout.
• Insect Record handout.
• Samples of apples with no bugs and apples with bug damage.
• Examples of bug control methods – flea collars, ant traps, fly swatters, sprays, fly paper, citronella candles, etc.
• An insect trap (available at most farm and garden supply stores).
• Cotton balls – three for each group.
• Three scents – vanilla, vinegar and perfume. (These will be the “pheromones”).
• Crayons or markers – three colors for each group.

Activity Outline:
Part 1 – Identifying “Good” Bugs and “Bad” Bugs

• Divide students in groups of four. 
• Distribute one set of the 8”x10” pictures of bugs.
• Have the groups divide the pictures into two piles, “good” or beneficial bugs, and “bad” or bugs that cause damage to trees, crops and gardens. 
• As a whole class, go through the pictures one by one, and have the groups identify the bug, then indicate with a thumbs up if they think the bug is beneficial, and thumbs down if they think it is harmful.

Good Bugs:
Ladybug – ladybugs are beneficial bugs. They eat aphids, mealy bugs and scale mites. Ladybugs can eat up to 24 insects every day. Some gardeners purchase ladybugs and release them in their gardens to help control insects.
Praying Mantis – Although they look rather scary, praying mantis are good bugs. They eat cutworms, beetles, flies, aphids and insect eggs. They eat much more than they weigh each day.
Honey Bee - Honey Bees are also thumbs up, they help pollinate crops and
produce honey.

Bad Bugs:
Grasshopper – Although grasshoppers are cool to look at and quite friendly, farmers and gardeners give grasshoppers a big thumbs down. That's because grasshoppers eat crops and can do a lot of damage.
Tomato Horn Worm – This strange-looking worm is called a Tomato Horn Worm. It gets a thumbs down. You may see him on a tomato plant munching away at the leaves. Plants need leaves to absorb sun for photosynthesis, which in turn helps the plant take in nutrients it needs to grow and produce fruit.
Gypsy Moth – This is a picture of a gypsy moth caterpillar. Adult gypsy moths do not eat much, but the caterpillar can almost completely defoliate trees (eat all the leaves on a tree). This weakens the tree and makes it vulnerable to diseases and harmful weather conditions. If gypsy moths infest a tree for more than one year in a row, the tree can die.

There are many more examples of “good” and “bad” bugs. In the next section, students can identify the bugs that “bug” them, and then learn about how farmers control the bugs that damage or destroy crops.

Part 2 – Ways Farmers Control or Eliminate Bad Bugs

• Show examples of apples that have not been infested by pests and apples that have damage due to pest infestation.
• Discuss which apple people would be more likely to want to eat. 
• Discuss why we are concerned about insects in our food (diseases, the way foods look and taste, and reduction in food production, which can affect supply and cost).
• Have the children list some of the bugs they deal with, and discuss the list as a class. (Some responses might be: black flies, house flies, spiders, mosquitoes, wasps, bees, aphids, yellow jackets, hornets, fleas, lice and ants)
• Discuss some ways that can be used to control or get rid of these bugs. (Some responses might be to use a fly swatter, to step on them, to use fly strips or traps, catch them in a net, use flea collars, candles or sprays, natural predators, etc.)
• Discuss methods farmers use to control bugs. (Scouting for pests, crop rotation, chemical pesticides, pheromones and traps, and introducing beneficial bugs to serve as natural predators.)

Part 3 – Bug Traps and Pheromones

• Show the insect trap to the students, and discuss how the trap works. 
• Have students make their own traps: (Make sure students write their names on their traps.) Fold on the dotted lines 1 and 2, then unfold them and carefully cut on the solid "cut" lines, just to the dotted lines, not past the dotted lines. Now fold lines 3, 4, and 5 and tape the top end of the trap closed.
• Discuss pheromones with students and how different insects are attracted to different scents.
• Have the students smell the three scents (pheromones), and let them choose which “pheromone” to put in their trap. Record on the board with a check mark which scent each child selects (these numbers will be used to create a bar graph).
• Add a few drops of the scent they select to their cotton balls, and have them place the cotton balls in their traps. Collect the traps from the students. 
• Give each student the Insect Lab Sheet handout for making their scent bar graphs (Scent #1 - vanilla; Scent #2 - vinegar; Scent #3 - perfume), and have the students use the crayons or markers to chart the results of how many students selected each scent.
• While the students are plotting their graphs, use the insect cards provided and place one or two bugs in each trap, without the children seeing. 
• Pass the traps back to the students and have them see what bugs their traps have “caught”.
• Using the Insect Key, have the students identify the bugs they caught and record them as a group on the Insect Lab Sheet.